


The Duet Made Me Do It

by leave_hook_to_me



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, percy jackson - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Apartment AU, M/M, Meet-Cute, Neighbors, shower duets au, solangelo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-26
Updated: 2016-08-26
Packaged: 2018-08-11 02:58:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7873540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leave_hook_to_me/pseuds/leave_hook_to_me
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico di Angelo has never seen his apartment neighbor, but he knows one very important thing about him - he loves cheesy 80s music.</p><p>Lyrics from REO Speedwagons "Take It on the Run" <br/>Story inspired by: http://awful-aus.tumblr.com/post/112041037663/awful-au-35</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Duet Made Me Do It

7:05 a.m.   

    Listening through the thin, cheap apartment walls, Nico had slowly begun to learn his next door neighbors schedule. He had been living here for two weeks, and still hadn’t caught a glimpse of the guy, but with the ultra thin walls, all the cues had been loud and clear.

    Being the corner apartment, Nico’s only neighbor was to his left. And lately he had been considering that it was kind of sad that his comings and goings were the only thing he really knew about him. Well, that and his affinity towards ridiculous 80s love songs.  
    

     Just now, as Nico faded in and out of a sleepy haze, he could hear the REO Speedwagon's Greatest Hits CD playing, and an awkwardly pitched voice shouting along with every word. He couldn't say he minded though, to be honest. The guy seemed to move like clockwork, saving Nico the prime annoyance of having an alarm clock in the morning.  
    

     Based on the amount of light filtering through the window, and how long he figured the music had been playing, he knew that right about now -  
    

     "Aww, crap!"  
   

     Right on schedule.  
    

     Nearly every other morning, around 7 am, Nico found himself chuckling as he listened to his neighbor get lost in a song, only to snap out of it and find himself late for something. Then the music would shut off, and there would be a series of loud fumblings - closet doors opening, things potentially falling to the floor, and a jingling of keys before the front door opened and closed.   
    

     And weirdly enough, it seemed to Nico that whenever his neighbor left, taking his terrible singing voice with him, he couldn't help but feel just a little more alone.

  


6:32 p.m.

    The water was cold again.

    Nico shook his head and tried not to let himself get pissed off to the max over something so stupid, but he couldn’t help it, irritation picking at him like needles. He payed for this goddamned water heater, and the water was never even hot.

    He poured a blob of soap onto a washrag and started to scrub, letting the water run through his hair and into his eyes, shivering beneath the chill. He might as well be standing in a tub of ice, for all the warmth the shower gave him.

    And from just beyond the wall, pulling him out of a blooming whirlpool of negativity, Nico heard his neighbors shower turn on.

    Nico knew the layout of the apartment building. Every other apartment was a mirror version of the first one, and it seemed like this was no exception, his bathroom lining up perfectly with his neighbors. Even the showers were propped right next to each other, so it would seem.

     And above the steady flicker of water hitting porcelain, both on his end and on his neighbors, Nico heard that warbly singing voice, belting out a song that Nico couldn’t help but know the words to. It seemed to be his favorite, since he played it so damned often.

    “Heard it from a friend whoooo, heard it from a friiieend whooooo, heard it from another you’ve been messin’ arouuuund…” Followed by makeshift guitar strums.

    Nico chuckled to himself, finding himself following along with the words in his head, the tune more familiar to him than even he expected. Shaking his head, he brought himself back to the water, and washed himself with a bit more intention. He had to head out soon, anyway. Jason and Reyna were meeting him at the movies for a long night of whatever the hell Jason had planned, aside from some cheesy action movie that Reyna was peculiarly excited about.

    “TAKE IT ON THE RUN BAABY! IF THAT’S THE WAY YOU WANT IT BAAABYY, THEN I DON’T WANT YOU AROUUUUUUND!”

    Nico almost felt the strums of the guitar in his chest, as the words tumbled off his tongue absently, causing Nico both to laugh at himself and be frustrated with himself at once, meeting his neighbors words in time with the music. “I don’t believe iiiiit, not for a minuuuute...you’re under the gun so you’re taking on the run..”

    He almost wished he had gotten a glimpse of his neighbor before, so he could picture what he looked like now, singing his ass off like he was on stage. Somehow, it seemed the louder he sang, the better he sounded. Here in the bathroom, in adjacent showers, he didn’t sound warbly at all. In fact...he sounded kind of amazing. All of this, paired with all the fire behind his singing, as if he’d been scorned by a lover himself, pulled the words out of Nico’s own mouth, and by the second chorus, he was throwing his head back, sending the water splattering across the tiles behind him, and his own voice cracked on the way out, “I DON’T BELIIIIIEVE IIIIIT! NOT FOR A MIIIIIINUTE! YOU’RE UNDER THE GUUUUN SO YOU’RE TAKIN’ ON THE RUUUUUUUUN!”

    The music got quieter on the other side of the wall. And Nico’s face burned, though it wasn’t like his neighbor could see him through three inches of concrete, and a set of white tiles.

    He swore he heard a laugh carry through the wall, as the song slowed to it’s end, and his neighbor finished off the last few words on his own.

    Nico shook the last soap out of his hair and shut the water off.

 

6:54 p.m.

 

    It didn’t take him very long to dress - tennis shoes, jeans, a black t-shirt, standard jacket that he wore everywhere like a security blanket. Pulling his phone from the edge of his desk, he checked the time - crap, he was late.

    He shoved the phone in his back pocket and grabbed his keys, squeezing them tight enough to prevent them from jingling back and forth. He threw the door open and pulled it shut behind him, his mind already thinking ahead, towards catching the bus, explaining why he was running late, hoping the movie tickets hadn’t sold out already -

    When his neighbor’s door swung open.

    Nico was immobile, his key suspended just outside the lock, his left hand gripping the door handle slightly tighter now, as he took in the face that peered back at him from the doorway.

    “Hey.”

    His neighbor was...blonde. Blonde hair that curled around his face in ringlets, somehow still shiny in the dim lights of the hallway. And a smile that was too bright for it’s size - it hardly spread his face, but it was like someone had turned on a string of Christmas lights.

    Nico searched for some sort of response, but all he felt was a weight in his chest. He shook his head, trying to toggle something out of himself. “...hey.” He wasn’t sure whether he was smiling back or not.

    “Guess we finally caught up to each other, huh?” The boy slid out into the hallway, pulling his own front door shut, and sliding the key into the lock.

    The action triggered Nico to do the same, and he spoke without thinking, just to have something to say to the 80’s romantic standing just to his right. “Yeah, ha. I’m surprised this is the first time we’ve run into each other.”  
    

     The boy shrugged. “Different schedules, I guess.” And he turned and stuck out a smooth, golden hand for Nico to shake. “I’m Will, by the way.”

     Nico reached for his hand, then realized he was still holding the keys, and they were tinkling merrily between the two of him. Nico shook his head, chuckling, though he wasn’t sure why, and shoved the keys into his pocket before reaching out for Will once again. “I’m Nico. Nice to meet you, Will.”  
    

     Will nodded, and in a move that sent Nico’s stomach into a whirl, Will started to blush. “So…” he looked away, gaze looking somewhere over Nico’s shoulder, then to the right, then to the floor, before returning to Nico’s face. “You....also like REO Speedwagon?”

    “Oh...oh gods, I was hoping you hadn’t actually heard me singing.” Nico shook his head, laughing for real this time, but finding it hard to meet Will’s eyes. “I hadn’t really listened to them until I moved in here, and suddenly I heard them on blast at least twice a day.”

     Will’s eyes went wide and his mouth dropped. “Wait, you can hear my music? I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize how loud it was, the neighbors have never complained or anything, I thought…”

     “No, no, don’t worry about it,” Nico tried to smile at him, feeling an odd rush of warmth seeing Will’s face shift between shock, horror, and embarrassment. “It kind of became part of my routine. Not to mention, you’ve got a pretty good singing voice. And you sounded like you were having so much fun, I never wanted to ruin it.”

    Will smiled sideways, and put a hand over his face. “Well...thanks, I guess. Sorry if it ever got annoying.”     

     Nico snorted. “Considering our shower duet, I wouldn’t say I hold too much of a grudge.”

    Will’s grin got even brighter, “That was pretty incredible. It kind of made my day.”

    Nico tried to figure out how he could stop himself from blushing. “Well, I...I’m glad it did, ha ha.”

    Will nodded. “Maybe we should...do it again sometime?”  
    Nico shook his head, then stopped. “That didn’t mean no, I just, uh…” He gripped his keys tight in his pocket. “Oh crap, I was already running late.”

    Will’s eyes went wide again, and he held up both hands. “Oh, then you’d better go, I’d hate to make you miss something.”  
    Nico smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll make it,” he said, stepping forwards. “Are you going down too?”

    “Oh yeah,” Will stepped forwards after him, and they walked together towards the elevator. “So...do you want to do it again some time?”

    “A duet in the shower?”

    “Well...maybe we should start with...I don’t know, coffee? Then we can talk about another duet?”

    Nico nearly tripped over his own foot, coming to a stop at the top of the staircase. “Coffee. Yeah...coffee sounds great.”


End file.
